GULF SHORES, Alabama -- Ready to shake off a winter season full of snow and ice, spring breakers from home and across the country will begin hitting Alabama beaches over the next few weeks in search of fun in the sun.

This time of year signals more than just a seasonal change as most snowbirds -- retirees from the Midwest -- check out in early March in order to make way for the first wave of spring visitors.

To kick off the season, Spring Hill College and University of South Alabama students will be off as well as Vanderbilt University and Tulane, among others and many public schools from Michigan and Tennessee that frequent the Gulf coast. Local schools systems in Mobile and Baldwin County will be off April 14-18 with Easter falling on April 20.

Reservations picking up

While a particularly frigid winter has slowed the usual early spring bookings down, hospitality industry insiders say the recent breakout of warm weather has prompted a flood of reservations from the Southeast region.

“People are starting to think warm weather,” said Missy Zak, vice president of marketing for Meyer Real Estate.

Weather fluctuations have really made spring break bookings more of a last-minute decision for many, Zak said. For Meyer’s 1,400 rental properties on the beaches of Baldwin County, March and April reservations are pacing about 10 percent over 2013.

“We’re looking forward to a very active spring season,” Zak said.

Reservations are also beginning to pick up for Kaiser Realty by Wyndham Vacation Rentals, which manages roughly 650 rental homes and condo units, according Marketing Director Emily Gonzalez.

“With the weather this year we’ve definitely seen a delay in the bookings process in that people were more concerned about surviving snow and ice that they weren’t use to experiencing instead of thinking about spring break plans,” Gonzalez said. “But we’ve seen a transition ... Our primary markets have boomed over the last two weeks. We’re looking forward to another solid, solid year.”

Following a record-breaking tourism trend with 5.5 million people visiting the beaches of Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, the Fort Morgan peninsula and Dauphin Island in 2013, the spring break season of March through May is right on track.

Since spring of 2010, the number of spring visitors has grown nearly 20 percent with 302,900 hitting the beach in 2013, according to figures by Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism. And those people hitting the beach last year spent 30 percent more than in 2010, $108 million to $143 million.

The 2014 spring break season is expected to kick into high gear in the second week of March when college students from Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State will be in town with families from the states of Georgia, Mississippi, Illinois and Texas enjoying their break as well.

“I think there’s a unanimous feeling among everyone that we want our guests, no matter what age they are, to have a safe visit while they are here,” said Herb Malone, president and CEO of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism

And on the police side, as with every year, patrols will be beefed up.

“We will increase our staffing to give us the ability to respond effectively,” said Gulf Shores police spokesman Josh Coleman. “We obviously can’t control who shows up but we do our best to maintain a family-friendly environment.”

Farewell to snowbirds

While most snowbirds will be flying the Gulf-side coop on March 1, other will stay on for a few more weeks and some through Easter.

Malone said January figures show the winter occupancy rate increased by more than 8 percent from 2013.

“I think it’s been a good snowbird season,” Malone said.

According to Zak and Gonzalez, the winter visitor bookings at Meyer and Kaiser remained steady from last year and special activities such as painting classes, casino trips and golf tournaments kept everyone busy.

“The majority of them will be checking out this Saturday,” Zak said. “We have a couple hundred that will be staying to mid March, but the majority will be leaving. It will be sad to see them go.”